Many of you probably did not know Gary. He was a fixture in the good way around the Miami Cigar scene. Gary also occasionally wrote for cigar publications, and more frequently he was a blogger...the Arzt of Cigars over at cigarmedia.tv. He was unique. He could piss off people quickly, but then like a Miami storm it would blow over. Gary just celebrated his 70th birthday in February at Pro Cigar in Santiago. He returned from that convention, posted his last blog on Feb 15th and then went into the hospital. He died this morning.
My favorite Gary story, one that became legendary at Pro Cigar, was from 2 years ago. We were seated having dinner when the tray of desserts came. The waiter, unfortunately, set it in front of Gary. He began eating all of the pastries, when one of our group informed Gary they were not all for him. Undeterred, Gary simply ordered another platter of desserts.
Eventually the waiter came back and asked if we would like coffee. Gary said yes, but with a splenda please because he was diabetic. All of us at the table immediately turned and looked at him with his sugar coated mouth in disbelief. To which Gary calmly stated, "I do what I can."
That pretty much sums up Gary...he was one of a kind and did what he could. He loved life and he will be missed. But my quess is the next time I see Gary, he will say, "You know I was just sitting with Mark Twain and King Farouk and they disagreed with me....."
My favorite Gary story, one that became legendary at Pro Cigar, was from 2 years ago. We were seated having dinner when the tray of desserts came. The waiter, unfortunately, set it in front of Gary. He began eating all of the pastries, when one of our group informed Gary they were not all for him. Undeterred, Gary simply ordered another platter of desserts.
Eventually the waiter came back and asked if we would like coffee. Gary said yes, but with a splenda please because he was diabetic. All of us at the table immediately turned and looked at him with his sugar coated mouth in disbelief. To which Gary calmly stated, "I do what I can."
That pretty much sums up Gary...he was one of a kind and did what he could. He loved life and he will be missed. But my quess is the next time I see Gary, he will say, "You know I was just sitting with Mark Twain and King Farouk and they disagreed with me....."
